The Director of Industrial Relations is charged with responsibility for labor management, national negotiations, mechanization, safety and health for all divisions of the union, and the administration of the collective bargaining agreement.

There’s more to being a progressive union than achieving and enforcing a contract — and that’s where the Human Relations Department comes in. Our programs and benefits inspire members to participate in the union and give them a sense of inclusion, contribution, and ownership.

The Maintenance Craft is a diverse and complex division of the APWU. In addition to the three national officers who work at the union's headquarters in Washington, DC, representation is provided by nine Maintenance National Business Agents (NBAs) and three all-craft NBAs.

The Motor Vehicle Craft is composed of APWU members who transport mail and maintain postal vehicles, and includes MVS Clerks, who work in Vehicle Maintenance Facilities and in Transportation Departments in mail processing plants.

The Support Services Division represents APWU bargaining unit members at Information Technology/ Accounting Service Centers, Operating Services facilities, Mail Equipment Shops and Material Distribution Centers, as well as professional nurses employed by the Postal Service. The Division also includes APWU-represented workers who are employed in the private sector, including mail haul drivers and Mail Transport Equipment Service Center employees.

The Northeast Regional Coordinator is responsible for union activity in parts of New York and New Jersey, and Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The Western Region Coordinator is responsible for the union's activities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and American Samoa, Guam and Saipan.

The Deaf/Hard of Hearing Task Force is a forum for APWU members to address their unique problems and concerns in the workplace, union, and society. Established in 1988 by an amendment to the APWU National Constitution, its goals include: better communication, better representation; better training, a better workplace, a better union, and building friendship.

APWU POWER (Post Office Women for Equal Rights) is the women’s committee within the American Postal Workers Union. It unites women, with their special concerns, yet works within the framework of the national APWU organization.

The APWU National Postal Press Association (PPA) provides APWU communicators with a wide range of assistance, information, and educational programs concerning the publication of union newsletters and media.

APWU Web News Articles

FTC to Challenge Merger of Staples, Office Depot

‘Important Victory for Consumers and Businesses,’ Dimondstein Says

Web News Article #:

226-2015

12/07/2015 - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced today that it would seek to stop the proposed merger of Staples and Office Depot, the nation’s largest and second-largest office-supply chains. The agency filed an “administrative complaint” charging that Staples’ proposed $6.3 billion takeover of Office Depot would violate the nation’s anti-trust laws by “significantly reducing competition nationwide.”

APWU President Mark Dimondstein praised the decision. “This is an important victory for consumers and businesses against Staples’ unbridled greed and its dangerous corporate agenda,” he said. “It is a big step toward stopping the merger.”The APWU has been an outspoken critic of the buyout.

“Our union conducted two studies showing the negative impact the proposed merger would have on consumers and businesses. It was clear that a merger of these two companies would have left just one national office-supply superstore chain. This would inevitably force customers to pay higher prices and leave them with fewer choices.”

The FTC voted 4-0 to issue the complaint and to authorize its staff to seek a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in federal court to prevent the two companies from consummating the merger and to maintain the status quo pending a hearing on the matter. The administrative trial is scheduled to begin on May 10, 2016.